The Correct Question

Once I was in a lobby and someone asked the question if a
particular Path was inviting or not? That questions changed my
perspective on forging at a fundamental level. It raised a paradigm
shift in how I would evaluate maps from then on. No longer do I forge to
a check list of things a map needs, but rather I forge toward a
continuous experience of Game Play. This is why I find learning what
makes good Game Play more important than what makes a good map. And a
player’s experience cannot be a result of check boxes, because the
player’s experience – good or bad – is both in degrees and heavily
influenced by their play styles, expectations, and preferences.

Is It Inviting?

When a player sees a Path that they want to take, unconsciously they ask themselves, How inviting is this Path? Various incentives and deterrents will drive their answer.

Open fields don’t feel inviting due to the lack of cover and the
threat of being fired upon. Yet, at the other extreme, cramped hallways
won’t feel inviting either, because they feel like a trap. And areas
cluttered with cover won’t feel inviting because they don’t offer
opportunities to move quickly and safely around each and every obstacle.

On the other hand, I think it is safe to say that even an open area
can feel inviting on a dynamic level across time – that the answer to
this question is not tied only to Geometry. For example, when the
player knows his adversaries are tied up in a fire fight else where, an
open area offers a quick dash in a straight line; yet that same open
area can feel uninviting when a sniper is suspected. While the Geometry
has not changed, the game dynamics have changed over time.

Making Paths inviting is key to forging traffic into the patterns you desire, as well as make the map fun to play on.

Is It Engaging?

Another question that is important to ask regarding a Paths is, Is it engaging? By this I mean when encounters occur on a Path, do they result in each side enjoying the engagement?

If one side has a distinct advantage then the other side would answer No. If either side (or both sides) feel too vulnerable then they will answer No. Do you see what this question is asking at a macro level?

Halo is a rare FPS that naturally offers lengthy and prolonged fire fights. At its core, Halo is fun because
it has fire fights that one can engage in over a sustained period of
time. Making play areas on your map that feel engaging is vital.

To be more specific, a player should look forward to engaging the
enemy along a Path. The Path may be in a Space that allows a Arena style
battle to take place where both sides fight for control until one side
is the victor. Particularly in asymmetrical games where one team is
offense and the other is defense – but also in symmetrical games where
one player is taking the offense and the other is his team’s defender –
the Path should encourage the offensive push, create an enjoyable
encounter for both sides, and allow the victor to capitalize by using
the area to setup another push or defense.

To provide an engaging experience, the Path must include features
like the Dance Floor, escape routes, cover, and so forth. I have seen a
Space with only two Paths in and out that did this well. It was an
essential Path on an Invasion map. It is rare to find a Space with only
two egress Paths work so well, but I think the size (it wasn’t too
large, one could escape backward), and the partial cover in the middle
helped a lot.

A major aspect of engagement is that both sides remain engaged until
one is the victor. This means that they can find some cover pushing
forward to a point so that they are not required to pull back and yield
ground to their adversary just to recharge their shields. By being able
to remain behind cover, there is some deterrence for their enemy to try
to take the Path entirely – they need to protect themselves as well.
While this depends upon the skill gap and disposition of each side, in
general there is a lot of truth to this concept.

Do I Have Options?

Do you remember we talked about how Spaces should have several egress
Paths? One of the questions players will ask themselves (unconsciously)
as they enter a Space is, Do I feel I have options? The safety
of the Space is driven only partly by how many Paths of escape exist.
Other factors can include both cover and elevation (for climbing up on).
And I am sure you can come up with more.

As you forge a Space, or even a Walkway, stand in the doorway and ask
yourself what the player would see as they decide to enter the Space.
Are they feeling limited on what they can do? Are they feeling there are
not enough escape routes or the escape routes are too far away or too
exposed?

Another context for this same question is when a player moves to
cover during a fire fight and they ask themselves if they have options
to move from there? This was a critical question for any Invasion map.
In Invasion, the Paths were essential Paths and the invaders needed a
way to get to an objective along one of the essential Paths. When they
came off spawn, they had to immediately find cover. From there they had
to have at least two solid options of movement to choose from. Both
options needed to look inviting, and at least one would predominately be
used if the other was heavily flanked by the defenders.

But the same question is a good question for you to use when you look
at the Paths on your map. Consider if a player is moving along,
encounters their adversary, and moves to the nearest cover. From there,
look around and ask yourself, How many Paths from here are available and are they each inviting? Look at it from the ground perspective by standing behind the cover.

Other Questions

Now that you got an idea of how to ask the right questions that can
drive players’ decisions on where and how to move about your map, you
may come up with some of your own. The point is that you want to ask
questions that relate to the movement of players and the unfolding of
the Game Play, rather than a focus on map features. You want to ask
yourself questions that keep your focus on the perspective of the
player’s decisions to move and their decisions to engage.

Don’t worry about whether you have cover within a Space. Ask yourself
would the player entering the Space recognize the cover as something
valuable that they would naturally gravitate to should they need it? Or
is it useless due to the way you forged it?

Additionally, when you test play your map, don’t ask for vague feedback. Don’t ask, Any one got any feedback for me?
Ask specific questions that help you get into their heads, to learn
what motivated them to make movement decisions. Help them know what kind
of feedback you find valuable.

Ask something like, Was the Path to Top Green inviting? You can learn specifically what needs to be addressed by the specific impressions that your map left in players.

Summary

Instead of forging to a check list of map features, forge to a dynamic and continuous player experience.

To do this, ask yourself the right questions in forge.

And ask these same questions in test lobbies to get very specific
feedback and to show the other players what you are trying to determine
through testing your map.